Huffman Sports Wire — Morning Edition

NBA: Preseason chaos in the best possible way

Monday delivered a full night of preseason answers and a few new questions, starting with Brooklyn staying perfect in October. The Nets beat the Washington Wizards 131–122 on Monday to improve to 3–0 in the preseason, with Michael Porter Jr. leading Brooklyn with 22 points and four rebounds. Rookie guard Nolan Traore added 17 points off the bench for Brooklyn in that same win. Trae Young finished with 11 points and 11 assists for Washington in the loss.

Atlanta gave its home crowd the tight one, and Utah and Minnesota took care of business on the road and at home. The Atlanta Hawks edged the Oklahoma City Thunder 113–110 on Monday after 15 lead changes. Aday Mara posted 17 points and 10 rebounds for Oklahoma City in that loss. The Minnesota Timberwolves beat the New York Knicks 122–104 on Monday at Madison Square Garden. The Utah Jazz beat the San Antonio Spurs 119–109 in Salt Lake City, while the Portland Trail Blazers beat the London Lions 119–66.

Tuesday brings five more preseason games and the best uniform matchup of the week. The Cleveland Cavaliers visit the Orlando Magic on Tuesday at 7 ET, and the New York Knicks visit the Toronto Raptors at 7 ET. The Indiana Pacers visit the Oklahoma City Thunder at 8 ET. The Portland Trail Blazers visit the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday at 10 ET, and the Golden State Warriors face the Los Angeles Lakers in Las Vegas on Tuesday at 10 ET. Preseason wins mean nothing in April, and everybody in the building will still argue about them until midnight anyway.

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MLB: Two series, two very different kinds of pressure

Milwaukee is halfway to the pennant, and Los Angeles suddenly has no margin left. The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 7–4 on Monday in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series to take a 2–0 series lead. William Contreras delivered a game-tying home run in the fifth inning and a go-ahead single in the sixth inning for Milwaukee in that win. Contreras finished 3-for-4 with three runs batted in for the Brewers. Four Milwaukee relievers retired the final 15 Dodgers batters in order on Monday. The series shifts to Los Angeles for Game 3 on Wednesday.

Cleveland stole the opener in Florida with the kind of late rally that travels well in October. The Cleveland Guardians beat the Tampa Bay Rays 7–3 on Monday in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series. Chase DeLauter hit a solo home run in the sixth inning and Patrick Bailey hit a tying solo home run in the seventh inning for Cleveland in that comeback. Nathaniel Lowe hit a tiebreaking two-run single in the eighth inning to give Cleveland its first lead. Tampa Bay had taken a 2–0 lead in the first inning on run-scoring singles from Junior Caminero and Jonny DeLuca. Game 2 is scheduled for Tuesday at 8 ET at Tropicana Field, with Parker Messick scheduled to start for Cleveland and Freddy Peralta scheduled to start for Tampa Bay. Milwaukee is dreaming of a sweep watch, Cleveland is dreaming of a stranglehold, and both favorites back home are just dreaming of a lead that survives the sixth inning.

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NFL: An overtime classic closed Week 5 in style

Monday Night Football saved the wildest game of Week 5 for last, and it needed extra time to settle it. The Buffalo Bills beat the Los Angeles Rams 37–34 in overtime on Monday at SoFi Stadium. Tyler Bass made a 45-yard field goal with 1 minute and 55 seconds remaining in overtime for Buffalo to win the game. The win moved Buffalo to 4–1 and dropped Los Angeles to 2–3. Kyren Williams scored on a 1-yard run with five seconds left in regulation for Los Angeles to tie the game at 34 and force overtime.

The quarterback duel lived up to the billing even if the stat lines took very different shapes. Matthew Stafford completed 40 of 54 passes for 383 yards and three touchdowns for Los Angeles. Davante Adams caught two of those touchdown passes and tied Larry Fitzgerald with 121 career receiving touchdowns. Puka Nacua caught 17 passes for 138 yards and a score to set a Monday Night Football record for catches. Josh Allen completed 12 of 19 passes for 210 yards with a touchdown and an interception for Buffalo, and Allen also rushed for 121 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries. James Cook added 108 rushing yards and two touchdowns for Buffalo.

Week 6 now opens with two 3–2 teams that cannot afford to drift to the middle. The Seattle Seahawks visit the Denver Broncos on Thursday, October 15 at 8:15 ET in Denver. Seattle and Denver both enter that Thursday game with 3–2 records. If Monday was any preview of the week ahead, clear Thursday night and keep the coffee close.

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NCAAF: Georgia takes the crown and Tuesday night football returns

The new top team in the country earned it on the road in Tuscaloosa. Georgia beat Alabama 20–17 on Saturday, October 10 at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Georgia rose to first in the Associated Press poll released Sunday for the first time since 2024, collecting 66 first-place votes. Texas fell six spots to seventh in that poll after a 27–24 loss to Oklahoma on Saturday in Dallas. Alabama held at sixth in the poll despite the loss to Georgia.

The rest of the shakeup was just as loud from Lexington to Los Angeles. Kentucky beat LSU 35–34 in overtime on Saturday, and Kentucky jumped to fifteenth in the poll while LSU fell 12 spots to twenty-second. UCLA beat Oregon 17–15 on Saturday, and UCLA rose nine spots to twelfth in the poll while Oregon fell out of the poll. Notre Dame beat Stanford 58–7 on Saturday and sits second in the poll, with Miami third, Ohio State fourth, and Indiana fifth. Indiana beat Nebraska 20–17 on Saturday to reach 6–0.

Week 7 starts tonight with Conference USA under the lights, which is exactly how college football should ease into a massive Saturday. Delaware visits Middle Tennessee on Tuesday at 7 ET on CBS Sports Network. FIU visits Jacksonville State on Tuesday at 8 ET on ESPNU. Tuesday night football is back, the poll is upside down, and Saturday has not even started arguing yet.

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CBB: UConn starts on top in the Big East again

College basketball season is close enough that coaches are already voting like it counts. UConn was picked first in the 2026–27 Big East preseason coaches’ poll with eight first-place votes. St. John’s was picked second with two first-place votes. Villanova was picked third, Marquette fourth with one first-place vote, and Providence fifth. Silas Demary Jr. was named the preseason Big East Player of the Year. Demary averaged 10.1 points and 5.9 assists per game last season as a first-team all-league pick.

The chase behind the Huskies has real star power and a defending champion with a point to prove. St. John’s returns as the team that captured back-to-back outright regular-season and tournament titles in the Big East before falling in the Sweet 16 last season. Conference play in the Big East begins on Saturday, December 19 with four games on the schedule. Poll season is undefeated season for everyone, which lasts right up until the first road game in January ruins the group chat.

That is the Morning Edition for Tuesday, October 13, 2026. Five sports, zero filler. See you at halftime.

SOURCES

1. Nets Wire — NBA https://netswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/nets/2026/10/12/nets-player-grades-for-131-122-preseason-win-over-trae-young-wizards/92225300007/

2. Eurohoops — NBA https://www.eurohoops.net/en/nba-news/2020005/aday-mara-posts-double-double-nba-preseason-european-recap/

3. Sports Histori — NBA https://www.sportshistori.com/2025/09/nba-preseason-schedule-dates-times-how-to-watch.html

4. Reuters — MLB https://www.reuters.com/sports/baseball/william-contreras-sparks-brewers-game-2-rally-against-dodgers--flm-2026-10-13/

5. Associated Press via TMJ4 — MLB https://www.tmj4.com/sports/mlb/milwaukee-brewers/contreras-delivers-and-milwaukees-bullpen-shines-as-the-brewers-top-the-dodgers-7-4-in-nlcs-game-2

6. 10BM News — MLB https://10bmnews.com/guardians-come-from-behind-to-beat-rays-in-game-1-of-alcs/

7. NBC Sports — NFL https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/monday-night-football-bills-beat-rams-37-34-in-overtime-in-instant-classic

8. USA Today — NFL https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2026/10/12/rams-bills-score-highlights-monday-night-football--live/92192192007/

9. Covers — NFL https://www.covers.com/nfl/seahawks-vs-broncos-prediction-picks-odds-early-leans-week-6-2026

10. Sports Illustrated — NFL https://www.si.com/betting/seahawks-vs-broncos-prediction-odds-spread-injuries-trends-for-nfl-week-6-2026

11. USA Today — NCAAF https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2026/10/11/college-football-scores-yesterday-week-6/92201967007/

12. Reuters — NCAAF https://www.reuters.com/sports/georgia-back-atop-ap-poll-first-time-since-2024--flm-2026-10-11/

13. College Football News — NCAAF https://collegefootballnews.com/college-football/college-football-week-7-schedule-predictions-scoreboard-2026

14. Big East — CBB https://www.bigeast.com/news/2026/10/1/mens-basketball-uconn-picked-to-finish-first-on-2026-27-preseason-poll.aspx

15. USA Today — CBB https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/bigeast/2026/10/01/big-east-basketball-preseason-poll-uconn-st-johns-marquette/92035781007/

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